Developing a competency model for private club managers

The purpose of this study was to examine the psychometric properties and factor structure of the competency model for private club managers. This study developed and identified a valid and reliable model for managerial competencies that can be applied to private club managers. A total of 596 club managers responded to the survey, and the respondents were randomly divided into two subsamples: sample A was used for the exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and sample B was used for the confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). EFA resulted in 58 items, consisting of 10 dimensions, and the CFA confirmed the 10 dimensions of managerial competencies model (51 items), consisting of (1) golf, (2) facility maintenance, (3) human resources–legal, (4) leadership–interpersonal, (5) food and beverage, (6) club governance, (7) sports and recreation, (8) accounting, (9) marketing, and (10) strategic management. A model was developed in order to further understand important managerial competencies needed for managing a private club operation in the United States. This model can be used to update certification requirements and professional development programs for club managers, as well as update university curricular offerings.     

Key Managerial Accounting Skills for Lodging Industry Managers: The Third Phase of a Repeated Cross-Sectional Study

This study is the third phase of a repeated cross-sectional study that explores the current rankings of important accounting skills to lodging managers and the changes in the importance of accounting skills to lodging managers over time. In this study, as with two prior studies, financial executives were asked to rate the importance of a list of managerial accounting skills used by hotel general managers. The top three managerial accounting skills were the operating budget, the income statement, and analysis of variances. This study can provide a better sense of the perception of importance of accounting skills utilized by lodging managers. It will be useful for hospitality educators in designing the curriculum for managerial accounting courses to meet the expectations of the current hospitality industry.     

Environmental Forecasting and Strategic Planning Practices in Country Clubs

ABSTRACT

This study was designed to determine the extent to which private country clubs utilize environmental forecasting in their strategic planning activities. Also identified were key environmental issues that affect the country clubs' ability to plan strategically within the constraints imposed by their boards and general memberships. General managers from four country clubs in North and South Carolina were queried using a combination of personal interviews and survey questionnaires. Three of the four clubs surveyed practiced strategic planning to some extent, utilizing a variety of influences and participants in the process. Human resource issues were a major concern faced by all of the clubs surveyed. Each club also rated economic, technological, and ecological issues as most important to their clubs' success.     

Human resource management responsibilities in private clubs

ABSTRACT

Private clubs have long been considered a unique segment of the hospitality industry. Clubs are different than other types of hospitality enterprises in many respects, including their ownership, revenue sources, management, and specifically, in the management of human resources. This article focuses on how human resources are managed in one regional chapter of the national association of club managers (New England). First, a focus group of club managers in New England was conducted. Next, a survey was conducted of club managers belonging to the New England chapter of the Club Managers Association of America. Findings suggest that very few clubs have human resource directors; responsibilities tend to be delegated through the organization; clubs have certain human resource management challenges associated with not having a human resource director; and general managers are actively involved in the management of human resources.     

Declining Memberships During an Economic Downturn in U.S. Private Clubs

ABSTRACT

Surveys were sent to managers at one thousand private clubs, who were members of the Club Managers Association of America (CMAA) to determine what membership changes clubs have experienced during the economic downturn from 2000 to 2003. The majority of respondents managed country clubs, member-owned clubs, and represented different areas of the United States. An overall response rate of 50% was achieved. Most clubs experienced a decline in the overall number of members and a higher annual attrition rate. Fewer clubs reported having a waitlist of members wanting to join and the clubs having a waitlist reported a smaller number of individuals on the waitlist. The clubs without a waitlist reported a higher number of openings in their club. The results of this study suggest that clubs need to implement membership marketing strategies in order to increase the number of candidates for membership during economic downturns.     

EDITORIAL

Abstract

This study examines the use of environmental forecasting during the strategic planning process in private city clubs. Key internal and external environmental factors were identified that impact city clubs and the club industry. Strategic planning practices and influencing factors were studied in four city clubs, in North Carolina and South Carolina, utilizing the qualitative research method of structured personal interviews, and the survey method of quantitative research. Numerous factors influenced the strategic planning process of three clubs, including consultants, employees, board members, trade associations and trade reports. One club, which did not conduct strategic planning, is struggling to survive. Environmental issues influencing these clubs were: technological, social, and economic. Each club's business was significantly affected by the business climate of the city in which it resides.     

Training practices in the Hong Kong hotel industry: Managerial and executive perspectives

ABSTRACT

Technology is expected to be adopted for the benefits of two types of customers in the hotel industry—external customers for providing better guest experience and internal customers for upgrading skills and knowledge. A survey was used in this study. Training with technology is not the current trend, and on-the-job training is still being adopted frequently and is preferred by executives and managers. It is unpredictable how long it will be before Hong Kong hotels take complete advantage of computer-based training. Minimum yearly training hours and training budgets should be benchmarked and be transparent for a better provision of training.     

When tradition meets the new technology: An examination of the antecedents of attitudes and intentions to use mobile devices in private clubs

Mobile technology increasingly permeates the social fabric of the contemporary society and the business models of hospitality organizations, including the private club industry. Using data from a nationwide sample of members of private clubs in the United States, this research examined the manner in which system beliefs (i.e., usefulness, ease of use), subjective norms, and facilitating conditions influence club members’ attitudes and intentions to use mobile devices to make reservations for activities/facilities in private clubs. It was found that usefulness and subjective norms have an impact in developing attitudes, which in turn influence club members’ intentions to use mobile devices in clubs. Being the first study to examine the development of attitudes and intentions toward mobile technology in a club context, this study brings important theoretical and practical contributions.     

Buying a Piece of Paradise- A Case Study

ABSTRACT

The vacation ownership (timeshare) industry is the fastest growing segment in the hospitality industry. With this growth is the need to attain qualified managers and hospitality programs must ascertain the skills that are necessary to meet the demands of this market. The purpose of this study was to discover if there were any significant differences between traditional lodging managers and timeshare managers based upon a manager's knowledge, ability, and attitude related to their job duties. The study did discover some areas that were deemed more important to timeshare managers. These results could be used to help potential employees in the lodging industry discover what type of environment would best match their skill set.     

The Ethical Judgment of Private Club Senior Executives

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study is to investigate effects of working experience and organization size on ethical judgments on ethical issues among senior private club executives. Senior club executives at small and large private clubs were given five vignettes, representing ethical dilemmas in five categories of ethical behavior identified by previous researchers. They were asked to determine whether each issue was a question of ethics or not (N = 413). The multivariate analysis of variance results indicate that senior executives working in the large-sized club with more than 20 years’ hospitality working experience tend to make higher ethical judgments on ethical issues.     

An Exploratory Study of Waiting Lists in Private Clubs

ABSTRACT

To understand the status of waiting lists within the private club industry, 1,000 members of the Club Managers Association of America were randomly selected to receive mail questionnaires. The analysis of 163 completed questionnaires indicated that 69% of the responding clubs did not have waiting lists. The majority of clubs with waiting lists were over 50 years old, member-owned, tax-exempt, and had 500 to 1,000 members and gross revenues minus initiation deposits of between five and ten million dollars per year. Logistic regression revealed that the odds of having a waiting list were 10.68 times greater for a club that had a Membership Committee than for a club that did not have such a committee. Two other factors found to predict the existence of a waiting list were a general membership that understands the importance of sponsoring members, and members that sponsor new members at a rate sufficient to overcome attrition. The following waiting list trends do not bode well for club membership in general: (1) the number of clubs with waiting lists is declining, (2) waiting lists are getting progressively shorter, and (3) members-in-waiting stay on lists for a shorter period of time.     

Select Performance Differences in Equity and Non-Equity Membership Structures Within Private Clubs

ABSTRACT

Managers at private clubs in the Greater Toronto Metropolitan area who are members of the Ontario Branch of the Canadian Society of Club Managers (CSCM) were surveyed to determine the membership structures at their clubs (equity or non-equity), along with the reasons, and advantages/disadvantages for those structures. Responses were received from 46 managers, 57% of the population. The managers were affiliated with golf-country clubs, yacht clubs, city-athletic clubs, and city clubs. Respondents of the survey most often represented: golf-country clubs (78%), member-owned clubs (84%), and clubs with non-equity membership structures (83%). Clubs with non-equity membership structures were more likely to have full memberships and waiting lists of candidates to join the clubs. Non-equity clubs also had lower entrance fees to join, but retained a higher proportion of the overall entrance fee paid by members when they joined compared to equity clubs.     

‘The Trouble with Today's Young Ones…’

ABSTRACT

This article examines the challenges for Australian clubs in attracting and keeping the younger demographic. Using a case study approach written by a participant observer, and Waterman, Peters, and Phillips' Seven-S Framework, the issues and difficulties faced by one NSW coastal club are examined as they trialled two “youth market” specific products aimed at the under-18 segment. After less than 12 months, both products were cancelled and a decision was made by the board of directors to no longer target the “difficult” youth market. In examining the challenges faced by this club, it was found that the “troublesome youth” became a convenient scapegoat for the real contributors to the under-18's product failures. This article found that, while the initial strategy to target the youth market was sound, there was a lack of support from the other internal factors of structure, systems, skills, style, staff, and superordinate goals that contributed to the cancellation and thus failure of these youth-oriented products. It is useful to examine these failures from a strategic viewpoint as a means for other clubs to become more familiar with the pitfalls of targeting the youth market from the outset, instead of through the lens of hindsight.     

A Thematic Review of Australia's Club Management Magazine

ABSTRACT

This analysis of articles from 1993 to 2003 in Australia's premier club management trade magazine, Club Management in Australia (CMA), the publication of the Club Managers' Association Australia (CMAA), highlights a number of recurring key themes. These are: taxation legislation; employment relations and human resources; gambling, alcohol, smoking, and related social issues; club expansion, innovation and growth; and contribution to the community. This article analyses these themes and discusses the key forces driving change in these areas, while also identifying the viewpoints of club managers. It is concluded that empirical academic research into these themes and the issues pertaining to them is needed. This is especially true of gambling, smoking, and social issues, the effectiveness of new gambling and club-related legislation, and the contribution of clubs to the community. Further research will be required to test the validity of several of the arguments put forward by the CMAA in the articles reviewed.     

Strategic Management of External Change in NSW Registered Clubs

ABSTRACT

This research examines how clubs strategically manage change resulting from alterations in their external environment. Specifically, this paper aims to investigate the marketing implications of recent legislative change arising from restrictions imposed on advertising and promotion of club gaming in one Australian state, the most populous state of New South Wales (NSW). Managers of three northern NSW clubs situated adjacent to the southern Queensland (QLD) border were interviewed to obtain primary data for this investigation. Results show that legislation restricting gaming advertising, promotion and external signage has caused difficulties in marketing these three clubs whose core product is gaming machines. Short-term results of revised marketing strategies indicate that club member numbers are steady but spending is unpredictable. Visitors are harder to attract, particularly new visitors.     

The Measurement of Job Satisfaction

Abstract

This study investigates the effects of various dimensions on job satisfaction, using a sample of Turkish frontline employees in Northern Cyprus hotels as its setting. Results suggest that pay and supervision have significant positive effects on the job satisfaction of frontline employees, whereas the work itself and physical evidence do not have any significant relationship with job satisfaction. The implications of the results for hotel managers and public policy makers are discussed.     

How do hotel managers react to rating fluctuation?

Rating fluctuation is inevitable for hotels listed on hotel booking platforms, which induces potential consumers’ perception of uncertainty and risk. Managerial response is expected to be effective in enhancing the interaction between hotels and consumers. However, how hotel managers react to rating fluctuation remains unclear. In order to fill this gap in the literature, we collect customer reviews and managerial responses from a leading hotel booking platform and build a panel dataset (hotel*month). The empirical results suggest that (1) rating fluctuation induces more managerial responses and requires more response time; (2) upscale hotels are more likely to conduct frequent and timely responses when facing rating fluctuation; and (3) hotels tend to respond more frequent and timely once rating fluctuation is observed by a larger audience. This study concludes by presenting theoretical contributions to the literature and practical implications for operators of hotel booking platforms and hotel managers.     

Lodging Managers' Perceptions of Work and Personal Life: Balanced or Imbalanced?

ABSTRACT

This study serves two main purposes: (1) to assess lodging managers' perceptions of difficulties and success in balancing their personal and work lives, and (2) to investigate if lodging managers' work interferes with or is enhanced by their personal lives, or vice versa. The results indicate that most lodging managers believe that they have struck a satisfactory balance between their work and personal lives. This study identifies the respective bidirectional effects of the interaction between work and personal life. Personal life boundaries are more permeable to work demands than work boundaries are to personal life demands.     

Customer Satisfaction,Training and TQM

Abstract

Managers within the hospitality industry make frequent reference to TQM principles. The extent to which these principles are applied effectively within the human resource management area of hospitality however remains under-researched. By applying TQM principles, this paper focusses on the relationship between customer service and training drawing upon comparative data from Western and Thai hotels. The paper also examines the perceptions of staff towards of hotels' guest-orientation and the provision of quality guest services. The researchers found that guest assessments of the performance of hotel frontline staff depend on their services function (e.g., front-office, housekeeping). The service quality skills needed by frontline staff were also found to differ in the case of Western and Thai hotels. Such differences merit proper consideration on the part of managers within the major hotel chains. The various findings may assist hospitality managers to determine appropriate strategies for the enhancement of guest services particularly in cross-cultural settings.